Kanye West's Bully is finally here and to no one's surprise, it's divisive. A lot of that stems from his downward spiral over the last few years. You can also attribute it to his use of AI, especially earlier in the album's formation. Allegedly, that's still an issue with the physical copies that hit retailers last week.
But while most people are done with Ye at this point, he has been taking steps toward repairing his mistakes. Most notably, he publicly apologized to the Jewish community and visited a rabbi to seek reconciliation and take responsibility.
It's definitely going to be a long journey back to get in the good graces of these people, but he seems committed. Assuredly helping him along this climb back is the voice of his late mother, Donda West.
His loving matriarch always gave him the confidence to further his craft. So, with that in mind, we have to imagine that she guided him whenever he was lost. It seems like Ye wanted to include her on Bully for both reasons, to signify to his ex-fans that he's seeking assistance wherever he can and/or to let them know that he's not going anywhere.
Who Is Featured On Bully?
Donda West is most notably sampled on the track "MAMA'S FAVORITE." Here, he inserts a full-on conversation they had earlier in his career for the outro. According to Bars, it occurred when he was 20, right after his first MTV appearance.
He asks if her if she expected him to reach the level he was at during this chat. She of course responds like any good mom would. "I can believe it the way you are. Somebody got it, though, you play tracks like Michael Jordan shoots free throws. Anybody does something that much and that long and is that good, it's gotta pay off. Can't go up there and do nothing but go off."
Additionally, Kanye asks Donda if he's being too "arrogant." She replies: "No, you come off just right 'cause it's what's inside because you can't be a star and not be a star. You gotta have some oomph about you. Don't wanna just go say, 'Oh, I'm just really not all that, but thank you anyway.' Nothing like that, I'm not saying come off like that. I think the way you are handling yourself is really just perfect."
On top of this "feature," others include producer Andre Troutman, Travis Scott, CeeLo Green, Don Toliver, Peso Pluma, Ty Dolla $ign, and Nine Vicious.
